The political partner in the race with the Democratic Party (PD) of Walter Veltroni, “Italia dei Valori”- the ELDR member party led by Antonio Di Pietro scored around 5%, thus doubling the results achieved in the last Italian elections in 2006. Repubblicani Europei and I Radicali, ELDR members which ran within the PD, will remain in opposition together with Italia dei Valori. Read more ...

On the 6-7th of April 2008 in Ruka, Lapland (Finland) an unofficial European summit of liberal prime ministers will take place at the invitation of Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. Read more ...

 ELDR Partyrue MONTOYERstraat 31 (7th floor)1000 Bruxelles - BelgiqueT +32 2 237 01 40 / F +32 2 231 19 07info@eldr.org / www.eldr.org    ELDR welcomes the resumption of talks for Cyprus settlement    Hope for the settlement of the Cyprus problem has returned, following fresh talks on Friday 21st of March 2008, between the leaders of the two communities on the island, Dimitris Christofias, newly elected President of the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot Leader, Mehmet Ali Talat.Annemie Neyts, President of the ELDR Party, conveyed her support for the reopening of talks between the two sides stating that “ELDR welcomes the news of the start of negotiations to resolve the current situation in Cyprus in order to bring lasting unity and stability to the island”. In a resolution adopted at its last Congress in Berlin in 2007, ELDR urged the European Union to re-launch the process to seek a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem through a high-level debate under the auspices of the United Nations.       Read more ...

In advance of the European summit, the Prime Ministers of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) will meet during a lunch hosted by Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt at 13:00 on 13th March 2008 in his official residence to discuss European current affairs. Read more ...

Former First Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev is the new President of Russia following his victory in Sunday’s elections. He received just over 70% of the vote and replaces Vladimir Putin who has been Russia’s President for the past eight years and will be the country’s new prime minister. Read more ...

 ELDR Partyrue MONTOYERstraat 31 (7th floor)1000 Bruxelles - BelgiqueT +32 2 237 01 40 / F +32 2 231 19 07info@eldr.org / www.eldr.org    European liberal summit: leaders support “fifth freedom”- freedom of knowledge  During a meeting of ELDR Prime Ministers on 13th March 2008, ELDR Party President, Annemie Neyts, stated: “Liberals leaders raise particularly the ambitious target of the "fifth freedom" – the free movement of knowledge”, and stressed the importance of creativity and small and medium-sized enterprises in the further development of the European economy. At the invitation of Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, a number of key leaders attended the meeting, including the Prime Ministers Andrus Ansip, Estonia; Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Denmark; Ivars Godmanis, Latvia; Calin Popescu Tariceanu, Romania and Matti Vanhanen, Finland. “Liberals support the energy and climate package proposed by the European Commission” Annemie Neyts added. “We believe that the EU has to encourage energy-intensive industries to adapt to climate change challenges and in this regard transparent rules and clear processes are needed”. The summit also gathered Graham Watson, Leader of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament; Karel de Gucht, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Belgium; Gergana Grancharova, Minister for European Affairs, Bulgaria; Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission, Estonia and Cecilia Malmström, Minister for European Affairs, Sweden.A follow-up unofficial liberal summit will take place in Ruka, Lapland (Finland), on 6th and 7th of April 2008 at the invitation of Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen of Finland. The ELDR leaders will use this meeting to discuss EU current affairs and prepare the strategy for the 2009 European Parliament elections. Journalists interested in the next summit on 6th April 2008 in Finland should contact Mr Matti Monttinen: matti.monttinen@keskusta.fi, mobile +358 50 388 0009 or Ms Chiara Puletti: cpuletti@eldr.eu, tel. +32.2.2370143.   Read more ...